Rule #15

Clipart and stock images are evil.

There is a sentiment among designers that the use of stock imagery is a shortcut to delivering personalized marketing projects. Stock images can be used by your competitors. They can be used in other industries. There’s no telling where they will show up.

Case in point, one time as creative director for an agency, I used a stock image of a woman for our own marketing campaign. This image, though highly manipulated, featured strongly in all our materials. Fast forward a couple of months, it was brought to our attention that the image was used on packaging for adult toys.

We couldn’t change our campaign fast enough.